


How He Asked

by ferix79



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Cultural Differences, Engagement, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 02:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6219850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferix79/pseuds/ferix79
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nohr and Hoshido have very different customs of proposing marriage. Ryoma proposes, Xander doesn't understand, and the siblings were in on it the whole time. </p><p>Inspired by a headcanon from tumblr user acepalindrome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How He Asked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [acepalindrome](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=acepalindrome).



> Written around midnight so excuse any errors plz

_In the Rendille tribe in Kenya, a man sends beads to the woman he is interested in marrying. If she keeps the beads, then the couple is considered to be engaged._

\---

They were beautiful; really, there was no other way to put it. 

Xander had returned from a council meeting—one from which Ryoma was mysteriously missing—to find a red satin box upon the desk in his— _their_ —room. He’d wasted no time in opening it, and inside—

A fine necklace of beads, with the largest in the center and the others subsequently smaller in size. They were mainly white in color, but red and teal patterns crisscrossed their surfaces. It was an undoubtedly Hoshidan piece. 

Quite beautiful, but not something Xander would usually wear. 

He replaced the lid on to the box and gently set it aside. He’d have to ask his lover about it later—it must have been a gift from the other man, wasn’t it? It wasn’t Xander’s birthday, though, not anywhere near. And it couldn’t be the anniversary of the day they became a couple, could it? 

The bright chirp of birds outside broke Xander’s train of thought, but then he shook his head. No, it was spring, and the day that had become their anniversary had been a warm evening in the fall, hidden away in a grove of trees far from the prying eyes of their family and comrades. 

He would much like to see Ryoma about now, he thought. It had been all day, heavens forbid, since he had laid eyes upon the Hoshidan prince. He saw the other man roll out of bed early that morning, listened to him dress and wash up, and then he was gone. Preoccupied all day with what, he didn’t know, but Xander was similarly preoccupied with a large family breakfast, a visit with Siegbert and then the council meeting. Yes, some alone time would do him well. 

\---

Xander finds him atop a hill out behind the castle, gazing on the horizon. Ryoma doesn’t even turn his head as he approaches, but he knows that the Hoshidan prince feels his presence. 

“Prince Xander.”

“Prince Ryoma,” he parrots back, running a hand along the shorter man’s back in greeting. He watches Ryoma cast a cautious glace at his neck, then up to meet his eyes. 

“What brings you out here?”

“Well, you of course. I’ve seen barely a hair of you all day.” He smiles, leaning in closer to the other prince. The gesture is not returned. Ryoma keeps his eyes squarely trained on the horizon. Xander lets his hand drop from Ryoma’s back. Something is amiss, but he hasn’t a clue what.

“Was that bead necklace on the desk a gift from you?” he asks, trying to lighten the mood. He can see Ryoma tense up—the man never was good at subtlety—but he is once again given no response, so he continues. “They were beautiful,” that garners a response, almost startled, Ryoma looks up at him again out of the corner of his eyes, “But, unfortunately, they’re not something I would particularly wear. So, I was wondering if, perhaps, you had something special...in...mind?” 

He trails off, staring in shock at the now empty space next to him. He turns to see Ryoma’s retreating form headed back towards the castle. He’s not even sure the other prince had heard everything he said. 

Something was definitely amiss. 

\---

Fortunately, Xander does not have to look far to find his answer. On his own path back to the castle he stumbles upon the four younger nobles shooting target practice on the training grounds. Takumi is scowling and barking corrections at Leo’s bad form with a bow while Sakura observes Elise in silence. The younger princess sticks out her tongue in concentration. 

The whip of an arrow being released, the corresponding _thwack_ as it sinks into the straw target. 

“Not a bullseye, but close,” Takumi says haughtily, sauntering up to the target to pluck out the arrow, “Good job, Elise, I didn’t think you’d be a better shot than your brother.” 

Elise can barely contain herself, throwing her arms in the air. “Yayy, I did it! Aren’t you proud of me, Sakura? Wasn’t it great?” 

“It really was!” the Hoshidan princess softly agrees. It brings a warm smile to Xander’s face to see them all getting along like this. 

“Elise that was wonderful,” he exclaims, opening his arms up for his younger sister to come running into. She does, and he picks her up with a spin, “You never cease to amaze me.” 

She giggles as she’s set down, a light flush on her cheeks before realization dawns on her face. “Big brother!” She gasps, “Did you accept Prince Ryoma’s gift?” 

He cocks his head a little, confused. Was she in on this? He casts a quick glance at the other three siblings—they are all watching him intently, waiting for answer. Takumi twirled the arrow in his fingers nervously. Were they all in on this?

“Well, there wasn’t much accepting to do, seeing as he just left them on the desk for me to find. I went to inquire after them, but he just left after I mentioned them.” 

A beat of awkward silence settles between them. They’re all dying to say something, he can tell.

“Y-you didn’t go to him wearing the beads?” Sakura suddenly asks. He’s a little shocked by her outburst, to be honest, but gives the only answer he can give.

“Well, no, I—”

“Ugh!” Takumi groans, throwing the arrow into the ground, “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you two!” He turns and walks away, as if to leave, but then paces back. Elise looks disappointed, and Leo covers his mouth to hide his snicker. 

Xander’s confusion only deepens and mixes with the rage building from his family, close friends and lover hiding something from him. He must put his foot down and end this.

“Leo, what on earth are you laughing about at a time like this?” He shoots a glare at his brother, but it does nothing to deter the younger prince’s amusement. 

“Please, brother, do you know nothing of Hoshidan culture?” Leo asks, hand on his hip. Xander refuses to dignify such mockery with an answer, so Leo continues on with a sigh. 

“In Hoshido, when someone loves someone else very much, it is traditional to present that person with beads. If that person accepts the beads and wears them, the couple is considered engaged to be married.” 

The color drains from Xander’s face. His heart skips a beat. He has to wonder if this is what all those love interests in the operas he used to see in Cyrkensia with his father felt like when their lover confessed to them. 

“Oh my god.” 

“Yeah, you better start looking.” Takumi says, leaving no room to argue.

“Oh my god,” Xander repeats. His feet start moving even though his body is numb. He has to find Ryoma, _gods_ , how could he have done such a thing?

If the four say anything else to him, it falls on deaf ears. His heart beat is pounding in his ears. He has to find the other Prince before it is too late. 

\---

He’d had it custom made, you know. Of course he had—it was only befitting for a prince, someday king, to have a one of a kind piece. At his request, Hinoka had dug out Mikoto’s old engagement necklace from their father, kept safe in a jewelry box in her closet. Ryoma had taken it to a jeweler—the best in Hoshido—for inspiration for the piece that he was to have crafted. 

But it didn’t really matter now, did it. 

Ryoma lounged in an armchair near the window of their shared room, gently rolling the beads of the necklace in between his fingers. The way it caught the sunlight was breathtaking. It would have looked even more breathtaking on—

No, he shouldn’t think about that now, though there was little else in his mind. Should he be gathering some of his things, planning to sleep in a separate room? He wasn’t sure, but couldn’t bring himself to care. It didn’t matter. 

Before he could continue his melancholy, the door slammed open revealing none other than the Nohrian prince himself. He didn’t think this conversation would happen so soon. 

“Ryoma…I’m so sorry,” Xander began, gasping for air between words and making his way across the room with uneasy steps. He acted as if he had run the length of the castle to get here. Ryoma sat up a little taller to address him. 

“No, Xander, there’s no reason to apologize. I should be the one…” he trails off for a moment, clutches the beads in his grip, not wanting to admit his next thought, “I should not have assumed so much of you.” 

Pain sweeps across Xander’s face and Ryoma feels a little sorry, but not as much as he thought. This was the man that turned down his proposal, after all. 

What he doesn’t expect is for Xander to lay his hands over top of his—he always does this when he’s being sincere, Ryoma knows—and presses a kiss to his knuckles. “Just give me a moment, will you?” 

Xander kneels in front of him and Ryoma can’t find the will to resist when he slips the necklace from his grasp. He unhooks the closure, loops it around his neck, then fumbles for a minute to get it fastened again. After he does, the Nohrian prince adjusts the beads a bit, getting used to the unfamiliar, but not unwelcome, weight around his neck. 

“Does it look alright?” Xander asks, glancing back up at Ryoma from beneath his eyelashes. He’s a bit surprised to find the man so choked up. 

“You,” Ryoma starts, not wanting his voice to break, “You look lovely.” He looks away slightly, finger rubbing at the corner of one eye. 

Xander can’t help but laugh in joy, and the tension melts away. Ryoma does, too, so relieved, and leans in for a kiss from his husband-to-be. 

\---

Ryoma has to ask later on, after night has fallen and they lie in bed together. 

“So you hadn’t the slightest clue?” 

A sigh. “No, I did not.” 

A deep, rumbling laugh answers him. Xander comes to his own defense. 

“I never even had to worry about that sort of thing; I grew up imagining I’d be the one proposing!” 

Ryoma hums, moving closer and laying an arm over Xander’s side. “But you don’t mind it?” 

“Of course I don’t,” comes the soft reply. The Hoshidan prince smiles, pulling him closer. He thinks he has never been so content.

“Leo and Takumi may mock me about it until the end of my days, however.” Ryoma laughs again, burying his nose into soft blonde hair. At least he knows, now, that they will walk to the end of those days side by side.

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr](http://ferix-writes.tumblr.com/)


End file.
